Collideoscope

Posted by: David Bunch

There's an op-ed piece in the USA Today called Love (or not) in an iPod World. The author draws a parallel between the unprecedented number of singles in our society (i.e. people marrying at a later age) and this same social group's addiction to iPods.

The writer quotes from Jillian Straus' Unooked Generation: The Truth About Why We're Still Single, and asserts that the same reasons apply to why they are hooked on iPods.

Her book documents why we're clueless. As I was reading, I realized she could have been talking about the reasons I love my iPod.

First, we live in a culture of infinite choice. With my Internet connection, I can have any song imaginable - early 1990s Indigo Girls to Renaissance motets - in my iPod in five minutes. Likewise, with 40 million singles using online dating sites, you could date someone new every night for the rest of your life.

Second, we believe it's all about us. On my iPod, I can arrange my playlists any way I want them. The fact that no one else on the planet enjoys both early '90s Indigo Girls songs and Renaissance motets is of no matter to me.

Likewise, Straus discovered that modern young people have long checklists of what they want in a mate. One man rattled off 25 "must-have" qualities, from being "ambitious" to "patient," from being a "team player" to having "the ability to be herself." Oh, and she needed to be sexy and like sports. After all, we can customize our playlists. Why not a spouse?

However:

"Marriage, like the car radio, is not as predictable, may not always have things in it that are to your tastes, but occasionally provides an experience that is deeper, more moving, and more exciting than anything you expected," says Haltzman.

There's great joy in listening to what the DJ chooses for you.